USA vs. Morocco Aftermath

Back in high school, my soccer coach would tell us to run ten sets of “horses”, an exhausting sequence of back-and-forth wind sprints. As we gasped for air on the ground after finishing, tired but proud of completing the task, coach would tell us to get off our rears and run six more. Incredulous, and anxious to win his favor so we could start in the next game, we groaned and pulled ourselves up to start over again. And that sequence would be repeated even again by having to run another six. By then, some of us probably began hoping the chess club was looking for new members.

Tuesday night, Bruce Arena’s squad had the same look in their eyes as my San Antonio MacArthur High team after a cruel and unusual number of wind sprints: exhausted, uncoordinated, and wishing to be elsewhere. It was a game in which we held the ball in the Moroccan half for the vast majority of the game, but it seemed that was the way the Moroccans wanted it. We put together almost no serious threat to their goal, and the few opportunities we had usually were flubbed on the offensive end.

The scariest thing about this game was Claudio Reyna going down with an injured right hamstring in the first 15 minutes. There are some reports out now that indicate his MRI is showing no damage, but I’d guess he’ll be out of the picture for these last two friendlies before the World Cup. Behind Reyna, the American that can act as playmaker on the field is John O’Brien, and you never know when he might go out with some injury. The fragility of Reyna’s legs is almost freakish; someone should do a medical study on him. It’s too bad a player as skilled as Reyna misses so much playing time.

Otherwise, I thought Eddie Johnson played poorly, as did McBride and Wolff. The back line played respectably, particularly Eddie Pope; Gooch was solid but showed he can be exposed by a quick offensive player. I thought Cherundolo was very active, and didn’t make many obvious mistakes other than that horrible giveaway at the end of the game that led directly to the Moroccan goal. Beasley and Donovan were mediocre, which is disappointing for two of the American stars.

However, the Americans have in the past played even more annoyingly poor soccer in a couple of games that actually meant something, such as World Cup qualifying, before bouncing back with a very nice performance. Therefore, I expect a better display of skill and effort in Friday’s game against Venezuela. And I hope that Brian Ching will get a lot of time in this next game to show his stuff, especially after the disappointing showing from the other forwards on the team Tuesday night.